Speed reading is my Weekly Challenge #17 beginning today. Inspired by this piece by Four Hour Work Week legend Tim Ferriss I’m going to see how much I can improve my reading speed and comprehension in the space of a single week. If you haven’t read Tim’s book, you really should, right NOW: The 4-Hour...

If you could change one or two personality traits in exchange for a happier life, would you? Of course you would. Now here is the same question loaded in a more practical way: if you pinpointed one characteristic you disliked, would you actually be able to get rid of it? Maybe, but for most of...

Since arriving in Costa Rica a couple of weeks ago I’ve been struck by the rich array of sounds that greet your ears at all times of day and night. Dawn chorus is more like a dawn disco for the wildlife, locals start noisily at daybreak, and the weather can be thunderously loud. This week,...

This week I’m heading to a remote corner of Costa Rica for a week of turtle conservation as a volunteer. I’ve been in Costa Rica for nearly a week and I’m loving it. As promised in Weekly Challenge #11, moving to a new country definitely helps to get you outside your comfort zone. When I...

My travels across the United States are almost at an end, but before we leave for Central and South America I’m spending a few days in Las Vegas. Thus far, traveling has been a useful métier for My Year In Flux. Racking up thousands of miles along abandoned highways, past desolate windswept beaches with only...

Have you ever wanted to just stop? I mean, really stop, set everything aside and just have a breather? In the first two months of My Year In Flux, I expected to steadily recover from the stress of work and London life and emerge a more serene human being. Instead, I’ve racked up several thousand...

My superhero is Steve Jobs. Saying that out loud makes me feel strangely disappointed, because it identifies me as just another sheep in the Apple flock. Since getting my first iMac in 2002 I followed Jobs’ every public utterance, watching every product launch online (including the classic iphone launch in 2007) before heading out to...

Whilst on our epic road trip through the United States, I took a turn in the passenger seat and, whilst my wife piloted us from the majestic Yosemite National Park (yeti-on-a-bike that place is a banquet for the mind) back to the west coast, I began reading the inspiring and practical book How to steal...

For my weekly challenge ‘don’t be such a hater’ I’ve been grappling with my darker emotions. I realise this is a very intimate challenge, and not on the face of it for public consumption, but as part of my journey towards self improvement, it is a necessary step. I have found that, like so many...

I often have short periods where I become fixated with breathing. It usually comes on after watching The Sopranos, where Tony’s heavy respiratory system often gets a starring role, which in turn makes me acutely aware of my own breathing. How often do you think about the act of breathing? It is an essential process undertaken roughly...

In the second of the heroes series, in which I profile those individuals who are providing inspiration for my year in flux, I’d like to introduce you to a man who has been living a life in flux for as long as I’ve known him (over a decade). Benedict Beaumont has ridden a motorbike solo...